Four more years?

Posted: Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Candidate Knowles makes much of his prior experience with the oil industry. However, a factual review of his dealings indicates much of that “experience” involved subverting Alaska’s interests to Big Oil.

His unwillingness to protect Alaska’s free enterprise system as illustrated by his “Charter for Development” and further conduct during the BP/ARCO merger.

His “partnering” policy with the oil industry where he allowed oil companies to edit corrosion monitoring assessments as illustrated by a side-by-side comparison of the 2000 Coffman Report versions.

His hypocritical “Oil and Gas Initiative” which called for the hiring of new ADEC staff to perform North Slope spill response drills and compliance inspections at the same time he was demoting, transferring or driving off the experienced people like Susan Harvey; officials who were credentialed, competent and already diligently performing those duties.

Tony Knowles’ record of putting the wishes of the oil industry before the best interests of Alaska is clear and leaves little doubt what approach to the all important gas line negotiations he will take or whose interests a Knowles-industry gas line contract will best serve.

Campaigning on his experience, Knowles claims he’ll “hit the ground running” if again elected governor. Frank Murkowski did the same thing. But what will be readily apparent to any Alaskan who delves into the above examples is that the records of the Knowles-Murkowski administrations have been 12 years of Alaska governors protecting the interests of Big Oil rather than furthering the interests of the Alaska people  12 years of Alaska running in place.